Heat Resistant
by bubblygoo
Summary: In which Ino discovers, yes, Chouji can eat cookies straight out of the oven.


Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Heat Resistant

"Chouji, don't eat those yet. They're about 135 degrees right now." Why do I bother? He never listens to me.

"You worry too much." He reaches out a hand and I intercept it. It doesn't matter; his hand is about twice as large as mine, and a hundred times strong.

"You're going to burn a hole through your mouth," I warn him.

He shrugs and pops one of the cookies into his mouth. I wait a few seconds, expecting steam to come out of his nose or something. Nothing. Not even a bit of uncomfortable whimpering.

"Wow, these are really good! How do you do it, Ino?"

I glare at him. "Fresh ingredients. How are you able to talk discernibly?"

He grins. "Hey, I know a little fire justu, too."

"Great." The last thing he needs is a heat resistant mouth. "Now the cookies are going to disappear at an even faster rate." I swat at his hands as he reaches for another cookie. "No more for you! These are for Shikamaru and Temari-san." Oh, so _now_ comes the whimpering. "Uh uh. No. Come on, let's hurry and meet them." To his credit, he doesn't take one while my back is turned.

We walk to the main gate. They aren't there yet, so we sit. "You know what you're going to wear, right?"

"Of course I do."

"A suit, right? And dress shoes? And a tie? And nice shirt? And some cologne?"

"Yeah, yeah. All of that."

Chouji doesn't lie. "Do they all match? Or are they your dad's?"

He frowns at me. "So what if they are?"

"Chouji! This is Shikamaru's wedding, not a graduation ceremony."

"…I don't get it. Besides, my dad wore this stuff to Shikamaru's dad's wedding. It's like tradition."

"Chouji, that means you're not going to be wearing clothes three decades outdated. You're the best man! You know what, after this, we're going shopping."

"Oh gods, no."

"Oh, yes." I give him my look, and he shuts up. Victory!

"What are you going wear then?"

"Well…"

I don't have time to answer as Shikamaru and Temari-san arrive.

"Whoa, a welcoming party."

"Hi," she says. Temari is in front and smiles to me. She's accustomed to the village, and us to her.

"Shikamaru, Temari-san, welcome back!" I examine them. Clean clothes, neat hair, anxious faces. I guess they won't be missing us much. "I wish we could sit down and catch up, but Chouji and I have some business to attend to, if that's okay with you."

"Why? What are you going to do to Chouji?" Temari-san elbows Shikamaru. "Ow! What?"

"Oh, that's, um, too bad." She's struggling to find a way to say thank you.

"I'm really sorry Temari-san. I'm sure Sakura will help you guys with the arrangements."

"No! I mean, it won't be the same without you, Ino. We'll do it some other time."

We smile at each other and lead the men away by their ears.

"No! Don't let her, Shikamaru!"

"Sorry man, nothing I can do."

"Quit struggling, Chouji. You're only making it worse."

I don't know why he resists shopping so passionately. It's not so bad, is it, shopping with me? Our first stop is a men's formal clothing store. I'm being kind, too: it's a financially friendly store.

"Here's one. It looks pretty good, and the price isn't too bad either."

"Ino! Do you know how many bags of chips I could buy with that money?"

"Chouji, do you know how many suits you could buy with all the money you've spent on bags of chips?"

We eventually settle on a simple, crisp standard black suit. The price still has Chouji holding his wallet protectively, but at least he isn't muttering to himself like that time with the carpet for his new apartment. He still hasn't stopped complaining about that.

I find him a nice pair of black dress shoes and a dark blue tie with a light, cross hatched pattern: something that won't clash with his hair. He tells me he has a new dress shirt his mom gave him for his birthday, and I trust his mom's taste. All that's left is the cologne.

"No, Ino. I'm putting my foot down on this one."

"Don't try to pull that with me, Chouji. It's just cologne; it's not even that expensive."

He pouts. "But, I hate that smell. And you do, too."

He's right; I do hate it. "That doesn't matter. It's the most popular brand of cologne right now, according to Kunoichi Weekly."

"So?"

I sigh. "So, there are going to be a ton of kunoichi at that wedding, and you could snag yourself one."

"But why would I want a woman who likes people who smell bad?" Why does he always sound so reasonable?

"I don't know! I'm just trying to help you out here. Everyone is getting married and having kids. Even Shikamaru, the lazy ass who hates woman, is getting married to one of the scariest women alive. I just… I don't want…"

"To see me alone?" He looks crestfallen, and maybe a little ashamed.

"No! I mean, yes. I… Chouji, I just want to see you happy."

He smiles apologetically at me. "I know you do Ino. But I still don't want the cologne."

I laugh. "Ok, fine. You win. So, what do we do now? We have everything you need."

"Let's get lunch."

He picks the place: the Korean Barbeque. We don't go here very often, not since…

"Cheers." He digs in, not as voraciously as he usually does. Maybe he still thinks about Asuma too. "So what are you going to wear?"

"Oh, one of my many, many dresses. You don't have to worry about it."

"What? So you're not going shopping? That's not fair."

"Unlike you, I don't think of shopping as a punishment."

We don't say anything for a while. I remember we used to come here almost once every other week. It would be Asuma's treat, of course. There wouldn't be silences like this one. We'd always be fighting or bickering over one thing or another, and Asuma would just watch and chuckle under his breath.

"Who are you going with?"

"What?" I snap out of my thoughts.

"To the wedding. Who are you going with?"

"Oh, I don't know. I haven't thought about it." It's the truth; I haven't. "Who are you going with? I don't think it really matters."

He stops eating and puts down his chopsticks. He's thinking about something: his forehead is wrinkled and he's glaring a hole through the table. "Well, I was thinking about asking you."

I'm blushing. Why am I blushing? "Oh, well… Are you still thinking about asking me?"

"Yeah. I'm thinking about whether you'll say yes or no. So, hypothetically, if I were to ask you to be my date, would you say no?"

I don't think that much about it. "No. I mean, yes. Ah! I mean, I'd say yes."

He's relieved. "Oh. Ok. Well, thanks."

That's it? "Chouji."

"What?"

"Aren't you going to ask me something?"

"Huh? Oh yeah. Hey Ino, do you want to come to Shikamaru's wedding with me?"

"I'd love to."

Now that's more like it.


End file.
